If you look outside the US...Mtas kicks ass. They just produced a new tire that was used in the Romaniacs that was a hit with the Top Riders. The Guys in S Africa & Oz love the E07's on teh ADV Bikes. As for the E07 it is a great tire with longevity & traction, for the big adventure bike it can't be beat. On my Tiger XC I got 3000 miles on a TKC....so far I have almot 6k miles on the E07 with probably another 2000 miles of tread to go.
I hope we see a "Local" US distributor soon as the shippping from Canada sucks!

Personally, I love the shipping from Canada, Colin rocks! the E-09 works well.

[I changed my order, so now I am running an e-10 Dakar front with an e-07 rear!]

I wanted to see how the e-10 [Dakar front & e-07 Dakar rear combo] holds up. If I can get more than 10,000 miles (or more) out of each, I'll be psyched. I know that they harder compound may sacrifice some road performance, but I don't push it too hard on the tarmac.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorito

We ran them on a R1200 and F650/800 (twin) on the rear. Got about 3500 miles out them. We might have sqeeked another 1K miles, but that still wouldn't have got us home. So, I would say very unlikely to get 10K.

For comparison, we were on a group trip and a buddy had a TKC on his R1200. I would say it sounds like the E-10 had a smidge more thread, but still all were end of life.

As you can see from my previous quote, I was speaking of the e-10 Dakar only as a front tire. I figure I should get at least double from a front as rear and I am hoping that the Dakar version wears a little slower.. I am now 2500 miles into the set up and I think you are right, I'll be hard pressed to get 10k, but really, it's still way to early to tell.

The Canadian Distributor is just across the border (a little south of Vancouver) from you guys. Maybe you could run up & get a bunch of e-07's at whole sale and ship em to your USA customers. Currently MX1 Canada is charging $35 to ship a single tire to the Western USA & $45 for two. If you could get a decent margin on the tires & pass the shipping savings on to your customers, there might be a handy little profit to be made. The e-07 really seems to be the best and unique choice for someone looking for an aggressive tire that out lasts a full dot knobby.

The Canadian Distributor is just across the border (a little south of Vancouver) from you guys. Maybe you could run up & get a bunch of e-07's at whole sale and ship em to your USA customers. Currently MX1 Canada is charging $35 to ship a single tire to the Western USA & $45 for two. If you could get a decent margin on the tires & pass the shipping savings on to your customers, there might be a handy little profit to be made. The e-07 really seems to be the best and unique choice for someone looking for an aggressive tire that out lasts a full dot knobby.

I think the situation is more rooted in corporate bottlenecks than anything else. E09s are DOT rated too. Never seen an E10 so I couldn't tell you.

Back sometime in early spring I posed a question to Mitas concerning what it would take to become a distributor. I mean shoot, if it's just maintaining a website, dealing with customers, and being able to ship tires, I can do that from home.

This was before MitasMX blew up but everyone was having serious issues with MitasMX customer service.

I was serious about that inquiry. Still am. But other than some really pleasant private conversation with Mitas concerning the state of things I was not provided the specifics of what kind of deal would need to be struck in order for me to become a distributor. The conversation ended by not ending. Mitas who represents the company in the forum btw, is a very nice person.

If it's a case of minimum buys, I'm sure we can come up with the money to get a container. If it's a case of setting up a professional web store and LLC. That can be done. There is really nothing standing in the way of being a small distributor that can't be overcome with some effort.

The problem I encountered in my conversation with Mitas was that I could not get an answer to the very basic questions I was asking and apparently neither could he because I never found out what it would take for someone to distribute these tires in the U.S.

I like Mitas tires and I'd like to see Mitas tires distributed in the continental U.S.

It might come down to the current American distributor not wanting competition. I know that person sucks as far as motorcycle tires, from what I have gathered here sells lots of tractor tires. This is where the profit is. I don't know, but would be nice if Touratech started carrying the tires. God knows they already have a lot of my money.

Currently MX1 Canada is charging $35 to ship a single tire to the Western USA & $45 for two. If you could get a decent margin on the tires & pass the shipping savings on to your customers, there might be a handy little profit to be made....

Well, they stuck me then. They tagged me for 75 bucks to ship a front and rear 07 to Nashville, TN. 304.90 for two tires shipped.....

Gotta love cross border distribution, not

My last two tires shipped cost $139 for both --- those were an IRC TR8 front and D606 rear.

And yes, I bought them stateside. Shipping was free, as in zilcho, zippo, zero dollars.

Mitas tires might be good, but they aren't that good. Shoot, I can go down to my local beemer dealer and get a "deal" on a set of TKC80s that comes in at about $304. Why, I bet you could get a set of Heidenau K60 Scouts for less money if you looked around. And I bet Mefo Explorers would come in around the same price too.

Mitas might want to take not that they are pricing themselves right out of competition.

My suggestion, just get something like the T63 and run with it...it's a solid commuter with very capable off-road manners and if you are on a 19 inch front try the Shinko SR241 Trials tire in 3.5x19. It has been working great as a go to block tire on my little f650gs. The 3.5x19 will work great on the big bore GS too but I'm not sure if it's tube type or tubeless.

Seriously. I don't know why anyone messes with out of country distributors. It's a hassle and you end up paying through the nose for tires when there are lots of great options and deals just waiting to be plucked from home grown sources.